How do the fans like the promotion/relegation system of the English leagues? I've often thought American sports could benefit from promotion/relegation. It would put a lot of pressure on owners.

We love it when we get promoted. We hate it when we get relegated!

It's a fact of life in football. As time goes on, the money in the EPL makes it harder and harder for promoted clubs to compete. It does happen, of course, but generally, for clubs like Bournemouth, Swansea even West Brom, Leicester and Stoke, at some point the reaper will come calling for them and they will be relegated.

Some money trickles down the pyramid, in the form of "Solidarity Payments" but they amount to a fraction of a percent of the TV revenue the clubs in the EPL enjoy. Also, dare to criticise the imbalance, as the Accrington Stanley Chairman did this week over the agent of Paul Pogba allegedly receiving over £40 Million on Pogba's transfer to Man Utd, then the EPL will write to you and ask you if you want the money or not!

Is there a tier of sports clubs that could easily replace a Major franchise in any of the sports? It would certainly stop tanking for high draft picks! But on the whole, I think the Leagues do a really good job of keeping "closed shops" relevant and exciting... Except the NBA. But that's my opinion!

I was watchin' a game Saturday with Sunderland (IIRC) and they got relegated. The fans looked like they lost their best friend. It was painful to watch 'em.

Don't be sorry for the Mackems, Mitlen. They will be back enmasse next year, if they do well in The Championship, and I think they probably will.

Their near neighbours Newcastle got more people through the gate this year as they won The Championship than they did when they got relegated from the EPL. Geordie fans are regarded as the most committed in the country for some reason, but they still stay away when their team are rubbish!

Teams like that either pop right back up or start a long swoon and drill down a few leagues. Portsmouth was in the premier league not too long ago, now they are 3 leagues down.

Portsmouth were in debt up to their eyeballs and the owners were basically not totally straight. The new lot had to mortgage everything under the sun just to keep the club in existence. They've sorted themselves out slowly and will start to come back up now as they are a decent sized outfit with a lot of local support - they got promoted this year.